I finally released my first cover after 7 years of silence on the YouTube channel! Also thus I completed one of the goals for this week, which is great. But I practiced other stuff as well.
1234 exercise
1234 on the 1-12 frets
16th notes at 90 bpm. Tried to increase the speed today. It went quite well. Tomorrow I’ll polish my performance and finalize the week.
1243 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm. Still trying to improve.
1324 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm.
1342 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm.
1423 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm.
1432 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm.
12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret
8th notes at 120 bpm. Increased the speed. 24 and 34 are the most exhausting ones.
Strumming
Module 12
120 bpm. Final video on this exercise.
When I Come Around
Here is what I spend half day on. It’s not perfect but pretty good. And it was really time to record this cover already. I stuck at practicing this song for too long. Maybe someday I’ll revisit it and make a new version.
Summary
One milestone through there is no time to hesitate. Tomorrow I’ll set some new goals for myself.
Today I finally played 1432 combination across the fretboard and almost fully mastered the bass part for When I Come Around.
1234 exercise
I played the final combination across the neck today – 1432. Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll be able to consider all six of them done to start practicing new ones.
1234 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 170 bpm. Almost perfect this time. Tomorrow I’ll try 16th notes at 90 bpm.
1243 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm. I wasn’t warmed up enough so this attempt was not my best. Will try to improve it tomorrow.
1324 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm. Played it decently.
1342 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm. There were some minor issues but still pretty well played.
1423 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm. Fun to play combination.
1432 on the 1-12 frets
8th notes at 150 bpm. Finally I tried to play it on the whole fretboard. It was much better than my similar attempt to do it a few days ago.
12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret
8th notes at 110 bpm. The hardest combinations are 24 and 34. They really made my hand feel some muscle pain which is not completely great. Thought I would practice them separately for a few times to get my hand used to them.
Strumming
Module 12 pattern
120 bpm. Repeated this exercise at the same speed to get cleaner sound.
When I Come Around
I played full song for a several times off-camera while the videos I recorder were transferring to my computer in order to free some phone memory and record the last video for today. That’s the result. I played the song along with the original recording at the full speed. My hammer-ons and pull-offs are not perfect, definitely needed more power. But I suppose I just got tired of all the attempts that were made off-camera. Think I’m ready to record the cover.
Summary
Well, the day has come. Tomorrow I’ll start the cover recording.
Today I completely repeated yesterday’s routine to make everything sound cleaner and smoother. And I made some progress in all of it.
1234 exercise
Repetition is a key to success. Not sure if anybody said that this way but surely I heard that somewhere. So I continued to play the same combinations at the same speed to increase my skills of playing them consistently.
The same issues apply to all of combinations, so I’ll just write them here not to repeat myself 6 times. The main struggles are:
Playing the E string with my pinky at the upper frets
Going down the neck with moving my thumb down as I go
1234 on the 1-12 frets
Played it at 340 bpm. It’s much cleaner than before. Still a few struggles up the neck and on the way down.
1243 on the 1-12 frets
Practiced it at 300 bpm.
1324 on the 1-12 frets
300 bpm as well.
1342 on the 1-12 frets
Played it at 300 bpm.
1423 on the 1-12 frets
Practiced this combination at the same 300 bpm.
1432 on the 5th fret
Played it pretty decent this time. Tomorrow I’ll try the same speed at the 5th fret again and maybe proceed to playing in across the fretboard. 300 bpm.
12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret
I changed the approach to this exercise. Now I play each combination for a minute and them switch to the next one. 24 and 34 are the toughest ones for me, need to pay more attention to them.
Strumming
Module 12 pattern
I repeated that pattern at 120 bpm to make the sound cleaner. And despite the fact that I mixed the chords a bit it went great. The second pattern made me make some stupid mistakes without any reason but it’s still okay.
When I Come Around
Today I started the bass practice at the original speed of the song – 98 bpm. It’s not clean, but I suppose it’s cleaner than yesterday.
Yesterday I played along with the original song a few times. Today I wanted to do it again and get it on video but my phone ran out of memory in the middle of the song so it’s not complete. Still not close to perfect – will practice more.
Today I finally added new routines from Module 12 and managed to play the bass part for When I Come Around along with the song at the original speed.
1234 exercise
I continued playing all these combination across the neck in order to improve consistency and reduce the amount of errors.
1234 on the 1-12 frets
I see the progress at 340 bpm. A few more days and it should be possible to play it almost perfectly.
1243 on the 1-12 frets
I still struggled with this variation but surely it went better than yesterday. 300 bpm.
1324 on the 1-12 frets
Improving at 300 bpm.
1342 on the 1-12 frets
To the issue with the one with two same notes being played one after another the second one was added. Now the problem lied in my thumb usage. It stayed in place while moving down the fretboard and then had to make a jump through several frets at once, making it harder for me to maintain the speed and precision at the same time. Need more practice. 300 bpm.
1423 on the 1-12 frets
The same issue with the thumb here. Will practice more to improve my performance. 300 bpm.
1432 on the 5th fret
I took a step back to 5th fret only because yesterday my performance was awful. And it was really smooth today! I was surprised how relaxed I was during the practice of this exercise. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try to play it across the neck again. 300 bpm.
12-13-14-23-24-34 on the 5th fret
I decided to practice all these variations at once. I started at 240 bpm but then reduced the speed to 200 bpm. Maybe I need to choose some of them to practice separately, mostly 34. Tomorrow I’ll do it somehow differently.
Strumming
Module 12 pattern
The time had come to play on the acoustic guitar. I’m not a huge fan – the electric one is preferable for me in most situations, but the snare sound just doesn’t work on the electric guitar – it’s awful there. So here it is. Played at 120 bpm. I won’t increase the speed, instead will work on making the sound cleaner.
When I Come Around
Finally I got this close to recording the final version of the cover. First I practiced the bass line at 70 bpm just to become more consistent with my pinky usage.
Then I played more off-camera to increase the speed to 80 bpm. After that I recorded my attempt to play it at 90 bpm and then at the original 98 bpm. It was quite ok.
Unfortunately at that point my phone ran out of memory again so I didn’t film the last part, but I played along the song a few times to get used to all transitions from intro to verse, from verse to chorus and back to verse. I wasn’t good enough to record something yet, but I’m getting closer to this point!
Summary
Finally got more time and more will to practice than the last few days. I’m excited to finally master the bass line and also to start new routines. Let’s go!
This week I finished the beginner part of the course (watched through modules 8-11) and I’m really eager to proceed further.
At the same time when I faced the When I Come Around routine I really started to want this song to be fully covered and recorded by myself. I learned the bass part already so it’s only a matter of time for me to master it completely, record and make a video out of it.
So in order to be able to spend more time on it I wanted to finish as much routines as I could this week, because my routine schedule became really large and after the practice I didn’t have much time left to do anything else.
The next week goals are:
Play 1423 and 1432 combinations at 300 bpm
Increase the consistency of 1234, 1243, 1324, 1342 combinations
Play and record Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar and Bass parts of When I Come Around
I didn’t practice fretboard knowledge this week. Need to get it back into my routines schedule.
Here is the video with more details:
1234 exercise
1234 on the 5th fret – 320 bpm → 340 bpm (as a warmup) 1234 on the 1-12 frets – 320 bpm (increasing consistency) 1243 on the 5th fret – 300 bpm (increasing consistency) 1324 on the 5th fret – 240 bpm → 300 bpm 1342 on the 5th fret – 240 bpm → 300 bpm
It’s the last day of the week 4, so I wanted to conclude as much routines as I could to start the new ones and proceed further into the course. I will repeat most of today’s routines for a day or two still to make them sound cleaner and more consistent but the goal was to get all of them so the speed I wanted them to be played at.
1234 exercise
Today I started with the newest combinations not to get tired when I finally get to them 🙂
1342 at the 5th fret
My goal was to get it to 300 bpm this week. Today I started with 280 bpm as a warmup.
Then I played it in 300 bpm as well. It was far from perfect but still I kind of managed to play it so it counts 🙂
1324 at the 5th fret
I got this combination to the 300 bpm a few days ago so I just repeated it at the same speed to develop consistency.
1243 at the 5th fret
At the end of today’s practice I had some time to play this combination, but my fingers were tired already so I messed it up significantly.
Chord transitions
Today was the day I finished all my chord transitions routines. It means that I played all of them at 120 bpm pretty consistently to count it as a success.
B7/E transition
B7/C transition
Am G/B C G/B transition
Em D/F# G D/F# transition
Strumming
The strumming patterns went the same way – played them at 120 bpm to finish up those.
Module 7 pattern
Module 9 pattern
Let It Be
I played it pretty well at the first place, but after a few days of practice I got better at F C Dm C fast chord transitions part.
Summary
I’m not sure what to do next. Part of me wants to go deeper into the course to find out something new and my other part tells to just continue the 1234 practice with other finger combinations and to master and record full versions of Green Day’s songs. We’ll see what I choose to do next week soon.
This week’s conclusion is near, so I want to reach the number I wanted to on the most number of routines I possibly can to proceed to the next modules and some new exercises.
1234 exercise
1234 on the 5th fret
I used this routine as a warmup to get my hands warmer as there was quite cold in the room already. It want’s perfect, and it was at 340 bpm.
1234 on the 1-12 frets
I held my hands in the hot water, so that’s why they’re a bit red in this video. It helped, but not with this routine, because they were too relaxed to play at that speed which was set to 320 bpm.
1243 on the 5th fret
At this point I don’t really know if I’ll be able to play this one consistently without muscle pain. Guess I’ll just continue practicing. This combination was played at 300 bpm.
1324 on the 5th fret
I really needed to get some rest after the previous one… I didn’t take a break and playing this combination, I felt the tension and burn in the hand halfway through. So the second half wasn’t played well at all. Tomorrow I’ll start with the newer combinations to play them when I’m not tired yet.
1342 on the 5th fret
After other routines I returned back to this one. Tomorrow is the last day of this week so I really want to end it with this combination being played at 300 bpm. So today I sped up the metronome twice. First try was at 260 bpm.
Then I set the speed to 280 bpm and failed almost completely. I mean, it was really bad… My hand was exhausted after previous routines so I did so many mistakes I wouldn’t even think about being able to make. Tomorrow I’ll start at 280 bpm again and hopefully will be able to play it at 300 bpm as well.
Chord transitions
B7/E transition
B7 chord had become my second nature. There is no issues with quick transitions to it at all. In 2 minutes I played something wrong just a few times. And it wasn’t something very crucial, just 1-2 dead notes. So I’m happy with this result at 110 bpm.
B7/C transition
Unlike B7/E transition this one have no fingers left in the same positions, but despite this fact I managed to play 80-85% of the routine correctly at 110 bpm.
Am G/B C G/B transition
Again there is some kind of mind games I have with myself – Am G/B Am G/B or C G/B C G/B were played several times during the video. But overall it went great – the transitions are not tricky at all. Today’s speed was 100 bpm.
Em D/F# G D/F# transition
Didn’t touch the second D/F# shape today (with my index finger on the E string). Using the version with my thumb this chord progression was successfully played at 100 bpm as well.
Strumming
Module 7 pattern
After some struggle I managed to pull it off at 110 bpm. Need 120 bpm for tomorrow.
Module 9 pattern
Considering there’s no chord written I used the ones from Let It Be – C G Am F C for the corresponding lines. Managed to play it at 120 bpm but tomorrow I’ll repeat this one to make a shorter video and to confirm my result.
Let It Be
I ran out of phone memory again so decided to play this routine off-camera at the same original speed – 143 bpm. Nothing special here. Practiced this fast F C Dm C transition a few times to play the right notes.
Summary
The number of routines increases so I really want to finish some of them tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to do it.
I watched through modules 9-11 which concluded Part 1 of the course. I will pick songs with I-V-vi-IV and vi-IV-I-V and probably make full cover of them after the two songs I started to play before.
1234 exercise
I decided to change the structure of this part to differentiate all finger combinations and make it easier to look through.
1234 on the 5th fret
Today I used this as a warmup to play other stuff more consistently. The metronome is at 320 bpm.
1234 on the 1-12 frets
Then I played the same 1234 on the whole fretboard at the same 320 bpm.
1243 on the 5th fret
My pinky still got tired after just 2 minutes of playing, will practice more. 300 bpm.
1324 on the 5th fret
It would be better for my performance to take a break after the previous exercise but I started this one without it, so it wasn’t perfect and after a few minutes I started to make mistakes. 300 bpm.
1342 on the 5th fret
Here comes the new combination. Started to increase the speed I did it at a week or so ago – 240 bpm. I really want to get to 300 bpm till the end of the week.
Chord transitions
B7/E transition
I felt really comfortable with B7 today at the same 100 bpm. Tomorrow I’ll increase it even more.
B7/C transition
Again, B7 feels more natural here now. 100 bpm.
Am G/B C G/B transition
Still don’t know why my brain mixes up these three chords and plays C G/B C or Am G/B Am from time to time. Anyway, I almost nailed it at 90 bpm. And the transitions themselves are not the main issue here.
Em D/F# G D/F# transition
As always the shape with my thumb feels easy, so 90 bpm is okay. Using the other shape with the index finder at the E string I managed to do it at 60 bpm today.
Strumming
Module 7 pattern
Last time I haven’t played it perfectly at 100 bpm, so today it was time to nail this speed.
Module 9 pattern
These patterns are not so hard, maybe tomorrow I’ll repeat them at the same 120 bpm all at once.
Let It Be
As in the Am G/B C G/B chord progression, the main issue here was not the chord transitions themselves. Somehow I kept struggling with realizing which chord needs to be played next. Anyway I have been playing it for 5 minutes at the original speed – 143 bpm.
Summary
I want to practice as much as possible by the end of the week to start the new one with new “post-beginner” modules. At the same time it will be great to finally record When I Come Around with the bass part. We’ll see how it goes.
Today I accidentally played the chord progression which sounded very familiar. Turned out it was from Welcome to Paradise by Green Day. So I remembered this song, played and recorded it after all the routines. I messed up two or three times during the song, so I’m gonna practice it more. This is like the first try to compare with in the future.
Here is clean version to hear how messy it sounds now 🙂
1234 on the 1-12 frets
I continue to practice it at the same speed – 320 bpm – and not sure if I’m getting better at it. Maybe I need to warm up before it instead of using this exercise as a warmup.
1234 on the 5th fret
1243
As I mentioned yesterday, I reduced the practice time for this combination to 2 min. Still the same 300 bpm, because it’s not clean at all yet.
1324
Finally this combination is completed and played at 300 bpm. It’s easier for me than 1243. Anyway, tomorrow I’ll start the next one – 1342.
Chord transitions
B7/E transition
I started with the same speed as yesterday – 90 bpm.
And then proceeded to 100 bpm.
B7/C transition
Same chord – same story. 90 bpm at first.
And then at 100 bpm.
Am G/B C G/B transition
Finally I stopped messing up the chord order. Now the Am and C are played exactly when they should. Increased the speed to 80 bpm.
Em D/F# G D/F# transition
Still struggling with the D/F# shape. So I practice both variants – with my thumb on the E string and with my index finger. The former is done at 80 bpm, the latter – hardly at 50 bpm.
Strumming
Module 7 pattern
Today I got to 100 bpm. Not everything went smoothly, but at the end I nailed it.
Fretboard knowledge
Realized that haven’t been practicing this stuff for a few days now, so I just did two attempts in a row on camera and got the time below 1:50 both times. Still worthy 🙂
Summary
I really like that thing with the songs and surely will do full covers (I mean two guitars and a bass) of both of these. Need more time to practice the bass lines, they are pretty fast and tricky. And keeping it up with my daily upload thing gets harder. But I’m having too much fun to stop doing it, so I’ll keep it up for as long as I could!
Today I started practice well-known 1234 finger combinations for 2 minutes each instead of 5 minutes to be able to make more progress with the newer ones.
I don’t know what it was, but I messed up a lot today in all the ways possible.
1234 on the 1-12 frets
Did it again at 320 bpm. Surprisingly large amount of mistakes today.
1234 on the 5th fret
1243
Repeated it at 300 bpm again. Today it was kind of harder too, so mistakes were made.
1324
This combination worked out better. Maybe I warmed up at last and was able to play it at 280 bpm.
Chord transitions
B7/E transition
Thought I had made some progress in this transition but then found out that the speed was 90 bpm yesterday as well.
B7/C transition
Same here – 90 bpm again. I think I’m getting better at B7 chord.
Am G/B C G/B transition
Increased speed a little – to 70 bpm.
Em D/F# G D/F# transition
The same 70 bpm here.
Strumming
Module 7 pattern
Played it faster today – at 90 bpm. Will proceed further.
Summary
Not much to say here. This report is quite short so I’ll just make this summary the same.
